Hi ladies! I have something very different for you today. I have actually been planning this for a while, but I needed a few 'foreign' brands so I had enough variations. After some asking around and purchasing, I finally have enough variants for the post! I won't bore you with a huge intro, since there are going to be a lot of photos to show you, but I have tried to balance higher-end brands with lower end brands so no matter your price limit, there will be something for you! First I'll show you the Duochrome with 'Sparkles' followed by the plain Duochromes.
Click the jump to see the swatches!
 |
| Indoors, Natural Light |
 |
| Outdoors, Natural Light |
 |
| Direct Sunlight |
 |
| In Water. |
Butter London - Knackered is a Purple/Green/Teal Duochrome with Holographic glitter. This is probably the only 'different' polish out of the lot, thanks to the Holographic particles. The photos above are 4 coats of Knackered without underwear. The nail line is still slightly visible, so another coat or two may have sorted that out. Butter London polishes are on the higher end of the price scale, retailing at £12 each in the UK and $14 in the US. As I only have two Butter London polishes (The Black Knight & Knackered), I can't really comment on the formula overall, but from what I can tell from the two I own, the formula is excellent.
 |
| Indoors, Natural Light |
 |
| Outdoors, Natural Light |
 |
| Direct Sunlight |
 |
| In Water |
OPI - Not Like The Movies is a Purple/Green/Teal Duochrome with tiny, Silver shimmer. Again, this is 4 coats of Not Like The Movies without underwear. As with most OPI polishes, the formula was perfect, I had no issues with flooding or bald spots and it seemed to dry quickly too. As you all know, OPI is another higher end brand, retailing at £11 in the UK and $6/8 in the US.
 |
| Indoors, Natural Light |
 |
| Outdoors, Natural Light |
 |
| Direct Sunlight |
 |
| In Water |
BarryM - Silvery Lilac is a Purple/Green/Teal Duochrome with tiny, Silver shimmer. Silvery Lilac has slightly more Silver shimmer in it than Not Like The Movies, but other than that they are exact dupes of one another. If you're not a Nail Polish
hoarder collector then I don't think you really need both of them. As with all BarryM Nail Paints, the formula was perfect, again I had no problems with balding/flooding. BarryM Nail Paints retail in the UK for £2.99 each, definitely one to buy if you can't afford/don't want to spend more than £5 on a Nail Polish but do want the 'look for less'. The photos above are 4 coats of Silvery Lilac without underwear.
Onto the regular Duochromes!
 |
| Indoors, Natural Light |
 |
| Outdoors, Natural Light |
 |
| Direct Sunlight |
 |
| In Water |
Deborah Lippmann - Wicked Game is a Purple/Green/Teal Duochrome. As you'll see with this and the other polishes below, they do show signs of shimmer when in Sunlight, but it cannot be seen when in Natural Lighting. This is another higher end Nail Polish with it retailing for £14 in the UK and $16 in the US. Again, this is 4 coats of Wicked Game without underwear.
 |
| Indoors, Natural Light |
 |
| Outdoors, Natural Light |
 |
| Direct Sunlight |
 |
| In Water |
Catrice - Iron Mermaiden is a Purple/Green/Teal Duochrome (are you getting tired of me saying this yet?!). I believe Catrice are only available in mainland Europe and retail for around €3 (I think, correct me if I'm wrong). The formula was okay, it was a little on the thicker side so it did flood my cuticles a tiny bit, but nothing major. Again, this is 4 coats of Iron Mermaiden without underwear.
 |
| Indoors, Natural Light |
 |
| Outdoors, Natural Light |
 |
| Direct Sunlight |
 |
| In Water |
Spoiled - Paying With Platinum is a Purple/Green/Teal Duochrome *shock horror*. Similar to Iron Mermaiden, the formula was a little on the thick side, which would have been manageable if it wasn't for the brush. As some of you may know already, Spoiled brushes are probably THE most thick, uneven brushes I have ever experienced. They are literally all over the place. I'm surprised Spoiled hasn't done anything to change this, seeing as 99% of people complain about them. I believe Spoiled polishes are only available in the US for $1.99 each, but I could be wrong. This was 4 coats without underwear.
 |
| Indoors, Natural Light |
 |
| Outdoors, Natural Light |
 |
| Direct Sunlight |
 |
| In Water |
Wet N Wild - Grays Anatomy is...I'm going to let you guess this one! I must admit, I liked the formula of this polish, it went on without any issues with pooling/balding and seemed to dry quickly too. My only question is, why would Wet N Wild bring out the same polish, at the same price, in their 'baby' brand (aka Spoiled) it baffles me. This again was 4 coats without underwear. Wet N Wild polishes retail in the US for $1.99 (again, I think).
So there you have it! My HUGE comparison of high end VS low end brands. I hope you enjoyed reading and I didn't just write a whole load of mumbo jumbo *which I probably did*. I originally planned to show them side by side on my nails, but after sitting and swatching them I was a little high on the mixture of fumes and horrendous heat. I also have
Essence - Where's The Party? Facebook page so keep an eye out for those.
Which of the above polishes would you be more likely to buy simply for the way it looks? Regardless of brand name, availability and/or price. Let me know in the comments!
Awesome post!!
ReplyDeleteI love Grays Anatomy, after reading this post I think I may use it for this week's mani :)
ReplyDeleteNice! I've always wondered about how these ones all compare. I think Zoya has one too and would be curious about that one as well! Thanks for this!
ReplyDeleteWow! Epic comparison. I love it! I think I like the look of the Deborah Lippmann the most, although I only own the WnW. It's great to see all of these together in one place.
ReplyDeleteGreat comparison, thanks!! I only own the Wet n Wild fastdry one, but I have a couple of Spoiled polishes. I must be one of the few people who really like the wide, flat brushes. I'm actually getting to the point that I hate using polish with "old fashioned" long, round brushes.
ReplyDeleteAwesome post. I always appreciate when pictures are taken in different lights/settings to get a real feel for how they compare. Most things can be made to look similar or different in some setting or another. You get an E for Effort! =) PLUS I love that I was like, OMG i need this polish, OMG I need this polish too, and at the very end, I was like, O.M.G. I NEED this po- oh wait, I have this already! haha Good to know so I don't go buying all the others. Which I may do anyway, but it will be an informed decision! (oh my gosh this is the longest comment EVER - sorry!)
ReplyDeleteawesome post!! thank you so much for your hardwork..
ReplyDeleteGreat comparison :D
ReplyDeleteAwesome post! I have Not Like the Movies, but I think I like the looks of the duos without sparkles better. I've been in a Sally Hansen Nail Prisms mood for a while, and I think there's a dupe in there called Emerald Amethyst. It's one of the htf, more expensive Prisms, but swatches tell me it's quite similar to any one of these.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Rachel!!!!
ReplyDeleteThose WnW are $1.79 where I shop, but that may be different. But OMG if I ever get a Butter London that will absolutely be the one! Thank you so much for this huge comparison. :D
ReplyDeleteLove these! I'd add Zoya's Adina to this mix, but it is slightly paler than many of these shades--still a nice duochrome though.
ReplyDeleteThats pretty amazing, they really almost all look the same
ReplyDeleteGreat post - something for every budget!
ReplyDeleteI have three different ones than you do but I want to collect as many as I can because purple/green duochrome is my favorite color.
ReplyDeleteThe ones I have are Zoya Ki which leans more purple but still has green, Essence chic reloaded which is darker, and a Color Club whose name I don't know that hass more shimmer and more green. Thanks for the swatches!